Glen Coffee All-Stars: 10 Running Backs Who Retired Too Early

Former 49ers running back Glen Coffee's abrupt departure from the NFL on Friday after one season in the league got me thinking.

Apparently, "his heart wasn't in the sport," which, I guess is a PR-friendly way of saying "I have my whole life ahead of me, and I'd rather be coherent (and walking without a noticeable limp) for most of it."

It's widely known that running backs typically have the shortest tenures of any position in the league due to the steady pounding they take nearly every down.

Barry Sanders, the poster child for leaving the game before many believed his time was up, left the game healthy. A bonus for any running back.

But for some other backs (like say, Willie Parker this season), health became an issue far too soon. It seemed like for these backs, their 15 minutes in the limelight of an NFL backfield came and went faster than Paris Hilton's singing career.

So, I've compiled a list of 10 backs who left the gridiron too soon—be it because of injury or personal reasons-and left most fans to beg the question "whatever happened to that guy?"

No. 10: Tim Biakabatuka

Although Tim (Tshimanga) Biakabatuka's name sounds more like an evil battle cry, he'll likely never be forgotten as one of the more noteworthy RBs in Carolina's early history.

His college career at Michigan was nearly unmatched. His accolades include a 313-yard performance against Ohio St. in 1995, and a single season record of 1,818 rushing yards, which still stands to this date.

So, with all the success he had in college, you have to figure it translated to success in the pro game? Right?

Err, raincheck?

Injuries cut short every single one of his five seasons in the league, with a career high of 718 yards in 1999 (with an impressive 5.2 YPC).

After retiring in 2001, "Touchdown Tim" took his talents to Augusta, Georgia, where he's the proud owner of two Bojangles restaurants.

He rushed for 1159 yards on 276 carries in just 12 games. 12 games! A new king had been crowned in Denver!

A (surprise, surprise) knee injury wiped out Gary's 2000 season after just one game.

An endless array of no-name running backs (Mike Anderson, Reuben Droughns, Selvin Young, Mike Bell, to name a few) would follow in Gary's footsteps and become brief rock stars as Denver's feature backs in the years to come, solidifying the sentiment that Denver's O-line and blocking scheme were the real stars, not the ones getting the hand-offs.

Gary would eventually get cast off to the Lions in 2003, never to be seen again (although it's rumored he's stuck under one of Wayne Fontes' fat rolls).

No. 7: Ron Dayne

The "Thunder" to Tiki Barber's "Lightning," Dayne never quite lived up to his billing as the No. 11 pick in the 2000 draft (not to mention the tiny distinction as the NCAA's all-time leading rusher).

Never once eclipsing 1,000 yards, and even more surprisingly for a man of his, um, comprehensive stature, never once reaching double-digit TDs (his high was seven), Dayne has floundered from doghouse to doghouse.

Technically, he remains a free agent, but he hasn't seen the gridiron since the 2007 season when he rushed for 773 yards and six TDs with the Texans.

No. 6: Robert Edwards

Remember him? Of course you do. Aside from Corey Dillon, he was the only other legitimate running back the Patriots' have had in the last decade.

The No. 18 pick out of UGA, Edwards showed immense promise after his first full season in New England.

And then, like any young, wealthy, overnight success story, he did something stupid.

He decided to play flag football in the sand.

Granted, Edwards' demise is probably more the NFL's fault than his own, since he was playing in an orchestrated rookie flag football game.

But, long story short, he blew out his knee and nearly had to have the thing amputated.

Four years later, Edwards made a brief comeback with the Dolphins, actually scoring two TDs (one rushing, one receiving) in his first game back. He would be the Dolphins' third-down back for the remainder of the year (sharing duties with the likes of Travis Minor and Leonard Henry), be relatively useless for fantasy purposes, and then eventually drift away into the CFL.

No. 3: Priest Holmes

Priest was a flat out beast. A three-time Pro-Bowler, Holmes dominated the NFL rushing landscape for an impressive chunk of time, averaging 1530 yards per season from 2001-2004.

He broke Marshall Faulk's NFL record for total TDs in a season with 27 (a record at the time), and became a virtual lock for the first overall pick in most fantasy drafts across the country because of his goal-line prowess.

But in 2005, his career hit the skids. He had been averaging 111.5 YPG thru eight games, until Shawne Merriman, in a fit of roid rage, tackled Holmes the wrong way, injuring his spinal column.

Holmes would only play sporadically from then on, attempting multiple comebacks, even after fresh blood Larry Johnson snatched up his starting role.

He finally called it quits in 2008, realizing he'd rather remember his kids' names than be a short yardage/goal-line back (probably the worst possible role for a player with spinal issues) for the rest of his career.

No. 1: Terrell Davis

Terrell Davis, was, in a word, The Man (okay, two words). As a sixth round pick, he became the lowest draft pick in the history of the league to rush for 1,000 yards in his rookie season.

His rise to stardom was indeed story-book. Starting his career at Long Beach State (which now doesn't even have a football team), Davis was the Broncos' sixth string running back entering training camp in 1995.

He managed to win the starting job after an impressive preseason, and the rest in history (Super Bowl rings, a 2,000-yard rushing season, fantasy royalty from 1996 to 1998).

But his career would come to an abrupt halt after his record setting 2,008 yard season due to multiple knee injuries. From 1999 to 2001 he would fail to crack the 300-yard rushing plateau.